Washington (Platts)--18Mar2011/641 am EDT/1041 GMT

Central Appalachian over-the-counter thermal coal prices fell on Thursday, though much of the premium added since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan remains.

It appears that North American traders, mindful of the strong gains leading up to Thursday, gave pause to re-evaluate the market, as traders had done in Europe.

In the East, the front end of the curve shifted lower, with May assessed at $74.50/st, down $1/st compared with Wednesday's Platts assessment. CAPP barge May traded at $74.50/st.

Longer dated contracts followed suit as selling pressure pervaded throughout the curve. Cal 2012 was assessed 60 cents lower at the end of the session at $83.50/st.

Q2 2012 traded at $83/st for five barges. Q3 2012 traded at $84.50/st for five barges, and at $84.25/st for five barges twice.

Cal 2013 traded at $87.50/st for five barges.

With increased volatility in the thermal coal markets, players were more willing to pay a premium to hedge their price risk.

A pair of options trades were reported during the session. A Q3 2011 put with a strike price of $75/st and a premium of $2.30/st traded for 10 barges. Q4 2011 call with a strike price of $90/st and a premium of $2/st traded for 20 barges.

June CAPP rail (CSX) physical traded at $74/st for one train.

In the West, Powder River Basin prices were mixed in moderate trading. April was priced at $13.15/st, up 5 cents from Wednesday's assessment of $13.10/st. Cal 2012 also ended the session higher, closing at $14.65/st, up 10 cents on the day.

PRB 8,800-Btu/lb April physical traded at $13.15/st for one train. PRB July-August physical traded at $13.85/st for one train.

PRB Q1 2012 financial traded at $14.25/st, and Q3 2012 financial traded at $14.85/st. Cal 2012 financial traded at $14.65/st for 5,000 st.

One PRB spread trade was reported. Back-half 2011 over Cal 2012 traded at a discount of $1.95/st for 10,000 st over 5,000 st.

--Chuck Noh, chang_noh@platts.com

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